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The war in Ukraine is heating up

Ukraine says one of its soldiers has been killed in the country's
east, where fighting between government forces and Russia-backed
separatists has flared over the past four days.

The Ukrainian military said on February 1 that nine servicemen
and one civilian were also injured in the previous 24 hours.

Ukrainian officials had reported the deaths of seven soldiers in
the past few days, the highest casualty toll in weeks.

The sides traded blame for the surge in hostilities, concentrated
around the government-controlled town of Avdiyivka.

An emergency official, Vladislav Husinskyy, said that 175 people,
including 88 children, had been evacuated to nearby towns by bus
on the morning of February 1.

Shelling left many residents of the town north of the separatist
stronghold of Donetsk without electricity, water supplies, and
heating in temperatures well below freezing.

The AP news agency quoted residents of Donetsk as reporting
incessant outgoing and incoming artillery salvos through the
night and in the morning.

Separatists said two civilians were killed and another wounded in
the shelling of Donetsk and the neighboring town of Makiyivka.

The UN Security Council on January 31 expressed "grave concern"
over the "dangerous deterioration" in eastern Ukraine and called
for a halt to the violence.

The Trilateral Contact Group, which includes Ukraine, Russia, and
the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe,
were expected to meet on February 1 in Minsk to discuss the
crisis.

A deal signed in the Belarusian capital in February 2015 called
for a cease-fire and steps to end the conflict, which has killed
more than 9,750 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.

Kyiv and Moscow are accusing each other of being responsible for
the recent escalation, with Ukraine's Foreign Ministry describing
it on January 31 as "a clear indication of Russia's continued
blatant disregard of its commitments under the Minsk agreements."

Speaking on February 1, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected
accusations that Russia and the separatists were responsible for
the flare-up of hostilities, and called on Kyiv to stop what he
said were "provocative actions."

Local
residents have a meal at an emergency center after shelling hit
supply infrastructure in the government-held industrial town of
Avdiyivka, Ukraine January 31, 2017.

Peskov also said that the escalation was evidence of what he
called the need for "a swift resumption of dialogue and
cooperation between Russia and the United States."

Russian-U.S. relations are badly strained over Moscow's
aggression in Ukraine, its actions in Syria, and what U.S.
intelligence agencies say was state-directed interference in the
U.S. presidential election.

U.S. President Donald Trump has called for improved relations
with Russia, and both the White House and the Kremlin said a
conversation between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin
on January 28 was a positive sign.

Despite substantial evidence, Russia denies claims by Kyiv, NATO,
and Western governments that it stirred up separatism in the
region and has sent troops and weapons to Ukraine to support the
separatists.

The European Union, United States, and other states have imposed
sanctions on Russia over the conflict, as well as for its
annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014.